Polenta Pizza

Polenta Pizza is a bit of a misnomer, but a delicious one.  It's not a pizza so much as layers of dense polenta topped with flavors you might run into on a traditional pizza pie.  You eat it with a fork, but it's as satisfying as the hand-held version.  We love the simplicity of this recipe from Real Simple, but made a few additions to be sure the crust was substantial and the toppings were a bit more conventional.  If we can't persuade our diners that this is pizza, we wanted to at least suggest that it's pizza's first cousin.


This is certainly not the traditional, labor-intensive method of mixing up Italian polenta.  Instead, the recipe employs a trick we love:  mixing the grains with cold water before the addition of boiling water.  Doing so eliminates the clumping that can occur when polenta hits hot water and makes for chef-friendly cooking.  The addition of eggs and cheese create a savory and stable crust that holds its shape when it's time to slice and serve the pie.  Unlike traditional pizza crust which can get soggy beneath a juicy tomato sauce, polenta tastes even better when it soaks up other flavors.  Thus, we use our favorite jarred pasta sauce (from Costco) on top of the polenta and beneath the pizza toppings rather than a thicker, dryer pizza sauce.


The recipe below keeps the toppings traditional, but your imagination is the limit.  We used a classic Pizza Margherita as our base and added a few toppings to make it more crowd-pleasing.  We used Amy's chicken sausage on the pie, but a classic Italian sausage would work just as well.  If you halt your sausage before it reaches the southern border of your pizza pan, you'll be able to offer a vegetarian option when necessary.  We finished the pie with generous handfuls of fresh herbs, a dash of sea salt and a few turns of freshly ground pepper and served it alongside a fresh salad.    So grab your fork, grab a slice and enjoy! 

Flatbread with Tapenade and Feta

Serves 30+ as a light appetizer

• (2) pre-made pizza doughs from the refrigerator section of your grocery store*
• 16 oz jar of good quality eggplant tapenade or sundried tomato spread (visit Trader Joe's for both)
• 8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 450 degress F.  

Lightly oil a full-size sheet pan with olive oil.   Combine both pizza doughs into one loaf and press dough out on a full size sheet pan.  Dough will vary in thickness and have an uneven shape.   Lightly oil the topside of the dough will olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly grated pepper.  Bake dough for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown.  Allow dough to cool and then tear into 2" segments.  

Combine tapenade and crumbled feta in a small work bowl.  Freshen with the juice of one lemon.  Transfer tapenade to a small serving bowl and serve along side the torn flatbread.

*We like Whole Foods whole-grain pizza dough which is available at the in-store pizza counter; Trader Joe's also carries ready-to-bake pizza dough in the refrigerated aisles.  If you can't find dough at your grocery, you can often by it at your neighborhood pizzeria.  And if you're ambitious, you can certainly make a batch of your own.

Polenta Pizza

Makes 36 slices

For the crust:

• Olive oil, for coating baking sheet
• 10 cups course-ground whole-grain polenta or cornmeal
• 5 cups cold water
• 5 cups boiling water
• 10 eggs 
• 20 oz grated mozzarella cheese  

Preheat oven to 450 degress F.  Lightly oil a full-size sheet pan

In a large bowl, combine polenta with the cold water and mix well.  Add the boiling water to the bowl in a steady stream, constantly mixing with a whisk.  Stir in eggs and mozzarella.  Carefully pour out the (very wet!) polenta mixture onto the sheet pan. (You may want to have one person tip the bowl while another person gently coaxes the mixture onto the pan.)  Carefully transfer the pan to the oven (again, a two-person job) and pre-bake the crust until lightly browned and crisp, about 20 minutes.  Keep warm until ready to top.

For the toppings:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 cups jarred roasted red peppers, cut into slivers
• 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced into half moons
• 10 cups pasta sauce
• 5 cups fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 cup green olives, thinly sliced 
• 1 lb pre-cooked chicken sausage, thinly sliced into rounds
• 2 lbs fresh mozzarella logs, thinly sliced 
• 1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1 cup fresh basil, leaves rolled tightly and sliced into thin strips 

Pre-heat the grill top to medium-high.

Transfer the pasta sauce to a small saucepan and gently warm over low-medium heat.


Warm the olive oil on the grill top until it shimmers slightly but not so long that it begins to smoke.  Saute the onions for 15 minutes until wilted and slightly browned.  Transfer onions to a bowl to rest.  Add the mushrooms to the grill top and saute for 10 minutes until lightly browned.


Spoon pasta sauce over the polenta crust.  Arrange mozzarella slices evenly over the pie.  Top with sautéed vegetables and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake until topping bubbles, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Garnish with basil, slice with a pizza wheel and serve immediately.






 

Romaine Salad with Greek Dressing

Serves 36

• 6 hearts of Romaine, sliced into 1/2" strips
• 3 cups sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into thin strip
• 12 oz Greek-style vinagrette
• 1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 1 loaf flavorful bakery bread like Rosemary Olive Oil or Roasted Garlic for croutons
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Slice romaine hearts against the direction of the leaves to get 1/2" thin rounds.  Wash chopped lettuce under cool water and drain well in a colander. 

If using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, place tomatoes in a colander or sieve and allow to drain well.  If using dry tomatoes, soak in several cups of hot water to rehydrate and then drain well.  Using a kitchen shears or paring knife, slice tomatoes into thin strips.


Cube bread loaf into 1/2" squares and place squares in a small roasting pan.  Toss bread with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.   Roast croutons in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until crisp.  Allow to cool.

About ten minutes before serving, toss lettuce with sun dried tomatoes, vinagrette and grated cheese.  Season well with sea salt and freshly grated pepper.   Just before serving, top salad with croutons.  Serve immediately.

Polenta with Sausage and Collards

If you sat down to a plate of this at dinner, and we didn't mention that the recipe was Tuscan, you might very well think you were eating a Southern dish.  We aren't trying to pull a fast one, it just turns out that there's quite a bit of shared DNA in the two cuisines.  We came upon this phenomenon unexpectedly, but are thrilled at the thought of unraveling it deliberately.  The thought that there exists a homegrown cuisine as illustrious as Tuscany's right here on American soil could blow a Yankee's culinary worldview wide open.  How did we miss this?

With a little digging, we came across an interview with Frances Mayes, a Southerner living part-time in Tuscany and well-known author of Under the Tuscan Sun.  She likens the rural cultures to one another for their shared sense of community and relaxed pace of life and professes that Southern cuisine is indeed the most developed of America's regional cooking.  In a separate interview, she says the two cultures share a feeling "that you go to the land for your food" and that "everything happens at the table."  Being neither Southern, nor Tuscan, we can't authentically confirm the sentiments, but we do know that when we served polenta with greens at the shelter, a guest at the table took her first bite and shouted, "MMM-MMMMMMM!  Real Southern food!"  That's confirmation enough for us. 

The impetus for this dish was a Gourmet Magazine recipe for Polenta, Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe.  Broccoli rabe can be difficult to find and we routinely substitute chicken sausage for reasons of health and popularity, so those were our major areas of divergence.  Collards are readily available by the bunch at Stanley's or in pre-washed, pre-trimmed packages at Jewel or Dominick's, so we happily turned to those for our greens.  We love that the recipe calls for raisins to sweeten things up and expounded on that idea with a little balsamic vinegar.  We've learned from experience that you can almost never make things too sweet, but you'll certainly hear if you've made them too bitter.  Because we roast the sausages separately, we saute the greens  with pancetta (or bacon) to be sure we don't loose the flavor that imparts.  All that said, the spirit of the dish stays intact... be it Southern or Tuscan... and we hope that you and yours enjoy it.  

Oven-Baked Polenta

Serves 36

• 1 TBS olive oil 
• 6 cups whole-grain medium grind cornmeal or polenta, divided in thirds
• 6 TBS unsalted butter, divided in thirds
• 3 tsp sea salt, divided in thirds
• 3 tsp black pepper, divided in thirds
• 21 cups spring water, divided in thirds
• 3 vegetable boullion cubes (Rapunzel brand sea salt and herb are nice)
• 3 cups grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Arrange 3 half-size hotel pans in a row on your work surface.*  Using a basting brush, lightly grease the bottom and sides of each pan with olive oil.  Add 2 cups polenta, 2 TBS butter, 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 bouillon cube and seven cups water in each pan. 

Place each pan uncovered in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, stirring the ingredients at the half-way point to recombine.  Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese to each pan, mixing well to incorporate, and return polenta to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Polenta is cooked when all water has been absorbed and cornmeal is smooth and fragrant. 

Remove the pans from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  For soft polenta, serve immediately.  If you're planning to serve later, allow polenta to cool in the pans and refrigerate for 2+ hours to firm.  Slice polenta into squares and pay fry, grill or bake until warmed through before serving. 

*You can also use a single, full-size hotel pan for baking the polenta en masse, but depending on your oven, the cooking time may exceed the 60 minute goal we usually shoot for.  If you can get an early start, a single batch will save a few dishes and turn out just as well. 

Braised Collards

Serves 36 

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 8 oz proscuitto, serrano ham, or bacon, finely diced
• 8 lbs collard greens (net), washed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces (about 12 bunches)*
• 8 lg garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 x 106 oz can Italian plum tomatoes, crushed by hand, and drained
• 2 cups raisins
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and pepper to taste





Preheat the grill top to med-high heat.  Fill your largest stock pot to the halfway point with cold water and place pot over high heat to boil.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a full-size hotel pan, roll up your sleeves and crush the plum tomatoes into fourths by hand.  Add the raisins to the hotel pan, season with salt and pepper and place the pan in the oven to warm. 

If you're making the collards from fresh bunches, plan for 15-20 minutes extra prep time for the following steps if just one person is doing it.  If you can divide the work between two or more people, it won't take long.  Before washing, pull the collard leaves from their stems by making a loose fist and sliding your hand from the base of the bunch to the top.  This should pull the leaves free of the stems while leaving them fairly intact.  Working in bunches, lay the leaves down on a cutting board and slice the greens into 1" strips.  When all your greens have been trimmed and sliced, submerge them in pot of cool water for ten minutes to loosen any dirt or critters and then drain them in a colander.  If you're using pre-washed, pre-trimmed packages of greens, omit the above and go right to cooking. 

When water reaches a boil, transfer collards from the colander to the stock pot, and cook in boiling water for 10-15 minutes until tender.  Return collards to the colander and allow to drain.

While collards are boiling, add olive oil to grill top and heat until shimmery, but not so long that oil begins to smoke.  Add ham to cook top and saute until lightly browned.  When browned, add collards to the grill top. (Take a step back as wet greens may spatter when they hit the hot grill.)   Sauté collards until well wilted, about 10-15 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes more, stirring continually so garlic does not burn.  Raise grill heat to high, pour balsamic vinegar over greens and continue to saute until the strong smell of vinegar has dissipated, about 4-5 minutes. 

Transfer collards to the hotel pan with the tomatoes and the raisins, stirring gently to combine.  Taste for flavor and season again with salt and pepper if necessary.  Return to pan to the oven and cook for 10+ minutes until you are ready to serve.   

Sausage and Cheddar Breakfast Polenta

This is a dish where polenta truly masquerades as Southern grits.  The deep color might otherwise give away the secret, but the cheddar cheesiness of this recipe leaves even the palest of traditional grits a bit yella'.  No matter, this should please the crowd no matter what you call it.  Enjoy!

Sausage and Cheddar Breakfast Polenta

Serves 36

• 1 TBS olive oil for brushing the pan plus an additional 1 TBS of olive oil
• 1 gallon plus 5 cups spring water
• 6 cups finely ground polenta
• 6 TBS unsalted butter
• 3 tsp sea salt
• 3 tsp black pepper
• 3 vegetable bouillon cubes (Rapunzel brand Sea Salt and Herb are nice)
• 6 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 3 lbs loose turkey breakfast sausage (we special order this from Whole Foods)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Preheat the flattop grill to medium heat or prepare an extra large saute pan for the cooktop.

Using a basting brush, lightly grease the bottom and sides of a full size hotel pan.  Add the spring water, polenta, butter, sea salt, black pepper and bouillon cubes to the pan.

Place the pan uncovered in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, stirring the ingredients at the half-way point to recombine.  After 40 minutes, add the cheddar cheese to the pan, mixing well to incorporate, and return to the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Polenta is cooked when all water has been absorbed and the cornmeal is smooth and fragrant.  (Cooking time may vary significantly depending upon your oven.  The cook time above is for a commercial convection oven.) 

While polenta is cooking, warm the remaining olive oil on your saute surface.  Add the loose sausage and saute until cooked through, breaking it up into small pieces as you go.  Remove sausage from heat and set aside.

When polenta has finished cooking, remove pan from the oven and stir in the cooked sausage.  Taste for flavor and season with additional salt or pepper as desired.  Cover tightly and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.  To serve, ladle a generous scoop of polenta on each plate and top with a pair of baked eggs (recipe below).

Eggs for a Crowd

Makes 64 eggs, or 2 per person for a crowd of 36

• Olive oil and basting brush OR non-stick cooking spray
• 64 large eggs
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Spray the inside of (6) 12-count muffin tins with non-stick spray or brush the compartments with olive oil making sure to get full coverage on the pans.  Break one egg into each muffin slot and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer pans to hot oven and bake until egg whites are set and yolks have reached your desired degree of firmness.  Cooking times will vary greatly depending on your oven, but will probably range from 10-15 minutes.  Remove pans from oven and allow eggs to rest for several minutes.  Using a butter knife or very small spatula, loosen the egg from the pan and gently remove with a spoon.  Serve immediately or transfer eggs to a pre-heated, covered hotel pan to keep warm until ready to serve.

[One note:  you may have to BYO muffin tins as many shelter kitchens will not stock the pans, but it's well worth the effort.]

Thoughts for Food: Polenta

If his reaction to pesto is any indication, polenta is one of those foods that might make George Costanza shout, "Polenta?  Polenta!!  Why should I like polenta?  Where was polenta ten years ago???"  Well, it may not have had much public presence in urban America, but polenta has been a staple in northern Italian kitchens for centuries.  If you had the pleasure of being fed by an Italian grandmother in your lifetime, it may have been a regular in your home kitchen, too.  A rustic Italian staple might seem an odd choice for a shelter kitchen, but polenta is simply the Italian version of corn grits.  Grits are familiar to many Americans, but to none more so than Southerners living in the "grits belt" stretching from Texas to Virginia.  Like many traditionally Southern foods, grits migrated north in the great waves of 20th century urban migration and are now found in kitchens and restaurants far north of the Mason Dixon line.  The primary difference between Italian grits and Southern grits is the corn they're ground from.  Southern grits are almost always ground from white corn and polenta from yellow.   Beyond this, there's similarity in their flavors, textures and recipes; polenta will seem familiar to many guests at your table. 

So why is polenta worthy of our first profile of the year?  For many reasons, not the least of which is its' incredible capacity to take the edge of the coldest winter night.  It's January in Chicago remember...  if there ever was a time for comfort food, this is it.  Beyond that, polenta is extremely economical, both in terms of grocery dollars and elbow grease. Traditional recipes call for continual stove-top stirring, but we've taken to an oven-baked method that allows you to set it and forget it.  This translates to a large number of servings at a low cost per serving and frees up hands for the rest of the meal.  It's also pantry-friendly. You can buy it in bulk, stock it in a cool, dry place and return to it for months of breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes.  It's commonly available in some form in nearly every grocery, but if you have difficulty finding it, one of our favorite brands is available online at a great price.

Both polenta and corn grits are traditionally ground from degerminated corn, meaning the outer layers of the kernel are removed before grinding to provide a smoother grit with a longer shelf life.  (Depending on the grind you purchase, coarse, medium or fine, it can be very smooth or very rustic in texture.)  Is degerminated corn delicious?  Yes, but it lacks the nutrients of the whole grain, so we take a slight departure from both grits and polenta and call for Stone-Ground Whole-Grain Cornmeal in our dishes.  By using the whole corn kernel, you'll get the full spectrum of nutrients available in the plant and enjoy a toothsome, hearty porridge that is filling, full of fiber and easily digested.  If the reception in our community kitchen is any indication, it's also easily enjoyed.